One Bright Book

Latest Episodes:

Episode #39: The Stone Door, by Leonora Carrington Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Frances, Dorian, and Rebecca as they discuss THE STONE DOOR by Leonora Carrington, and chat about their current reading.

For our next episode, we will discuss I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman, translated from the French by Ros Schwartz, with an afterword by Sophie Mackintosh. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you sometime this fall. Yes, that time frame is vague but we like to be truthful.

Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books!

Books Mentioned:

The Stone Door by Leonora Carrington
The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
Surrealist Women's Writing: A Critical Exploration edited by Anna Watz
A History of the Surrealist Novel edited by Anna Watz
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
A Marsh Island by Sarah Orne Jewett
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
The Dance and the Fire by Daniel Saldana Paris, translated from the Spanish by Christina Macsweeney
Sea Now by Eva Meijer, translated from the Dutch by Anne Thompson Melo
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, translated from the French by Ros Schwartz

Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.

Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.

Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail

Find us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/onebrightbook.bsky.social

Frances: https://bsky.app/profile/nonsuchbook.bsky.social

Dorian: https://bsky.app/profile/ds228.bsky.social

Rebecca: https://bsky.app/profile/ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social

Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/

Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/

Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Episode #38: Miaow, by Benito Pérez Galdós Sep 08, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Dorian, Rebecca, and Frances as they discuss MIAOW by Benito Pérez Galdós, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa, and chat about their current reading.

For our next episode, we will discuss The Stone Door by Leonora Carrington. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you sometime in late September.

Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books!

Books mentioned:

Miaow by Benito Pérez Galdós, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa
The Antinomies of Realism by Frederic Jameson
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
The Blue Place by Nicola Griffith
Anima: A Wild Pastoral by Kapka Kassabova
Living by Henry Green
People Like Us by Jason Mott
Erik Satie: Three Piece Suite by Ian Penman
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Odd Women by George Gissing
The Holiday by Stevie Smith
Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz,translated from the German by Max Lawton
Life A User's Manual by Georges Perec, translated from the French by David Bellos
The Stone Door by Leonora Carrington
Angela Carter and Surrealism by Anna Walz
A History of the Surrealist Novel edited by Anna Walz
Surrealist Women's Writing: A Critical Exploration by Anna Walz
Opus Siniestrus by Leonora Carrington

Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.

Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.

Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail

Find us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/onebrightbook.bsky.social

Frances: https://bsky.app/profile/nonsuchbook.bsky.social

Dorian: https://bsky.app/profile/ds228.bsky.social

Rebecca: https://bsky.app/profile/ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social

Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/

Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/

Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Episode #37: There's Always This Year, by Hanif Abdurraqib Jul 08, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Rebecca, Frances, and Dorian as they discuss THERE'S ALWAYS THIS YEAR: ON BASKETBALL AND ASCENSION by Hanif Abdurraqib, and chat about their current reading.

For our next episode, we will discuss MIAOW by Benito Pérez Galdós, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you sometime in August. Maybe. It's summer, people!

Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books!

Books Mentioned:

There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib
A Fortune For Your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqib
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
Be Holding: A Poem by Ross Gay
Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno, translated from the French by Natasha Lehrer
Theory and Practice by Michelle de Kretser
Attila by Aliocha Coll, translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore
Attila by Javier Serena, translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Miaow by Benito Pérez Galdós, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa

You might also be interested in:

Beyond the Zero Podcast: Katie Whittemore speaking about her translations of Attila by Alicocha Coll and Attila by Javier Serena

Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.

Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.

Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail

Find us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/onebrightbook.bsky.social

Frances: https://bsky.app/profile/nonsuchbook.bsky.social

Dorian: https://bsky.app/profile/ds228.bsky.social

Rebecca: https://bsky.app/profile/ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social

Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/

Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/

Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Episode #36: The Country of the Pointed Firs, by Sarah Orne Jewett Jun 11, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Frances, Dorian, and Rebecca as they discuss THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS by Sarah Orne Jewett, and chat about their current reading.

For our next episode, we will discuss There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in early July.

Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books!

Books mentioned:

The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
A Marsh Island by Sarah Orne Jewett
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Willa Cather: Double Lives by Hermione Lee
Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger by Nigel Slater
Nadja by André Breton, translated from the French by Mark Polizzotti
The Little Drummer Girl by John le Carré
Audition by Katie Kitamura
Audition by Pip Adam
Animal Stories by Kate Zambreno
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
My Heresies by Aline Stefanescu
There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.

Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.

Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail

Find us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/onebrightbook.bsky.social

Frances: https://bsky.app/profile/nonsuchbook.bsky.social

Dorian: https://bsky.app/profile/ds228.bsky.social

Rebecca: https://bsky.app/profile/ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social

Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/

Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/

Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Episode #35: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather Apr 28, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Dorian, Frances, and Rebecca as they discuss O PIONEERS! by Willa Cather, and chat about their current reading.

For our next episode, we will discuss The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in early June.

Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books!

Books mentioned:

• O Pioneers! by Willa Cather • My Antonia by Willa Cather • The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather • A Lost Lady by Willa Cather • Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman • Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin • Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin • Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin • Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood • The Selected Letters of Willa Cather • Chasing Bright Medusas by Benjamin Taylor • Willa Cather: Double Lives by Hermione Lee • The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett

You might also be interested in "The Peace When It Settled: Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional" by Rohan Maitzen.

Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.

Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.

Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail

Find us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/onebrightbook.bsky.social

Frances: https://bsky.app/profile/nonsuchbook.bsky.social

Dorian: https://bsky.app/profile/ds228.bsky.social

Rebecca: https://bsky.app/profile/ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social

Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/

Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/

Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Episode #34: The Trees, by Percival Everett Apr 06, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Rebecca, Dorian, and Frances as they discuss THE TREES by Percival Everett, and chat about their current reading.

For our next episode, we will discuss O PIONEERS! by Willa Cather. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in late April.

Books mentioned:

The Trees by Percival Everett
James by Percival Everett
Erasure by Percival Everett
God's Country by Percival Everett
Sonnets for a Missing Key by Percival Everett
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin
On the Calculation of Volume, Volume 1 by Solvej Balle, translated from the Dutch by Barbara J. Haveland
Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated from the Romanian by Sean Cotter
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton
Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Asa Yoneda
Eurotrash by Christian Kracht, translated from the German by Daniel Bowles
On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated from the Dutch by Lucy Scott
Herman Melville: A Biography, Volume 1, 1819-1851 by Hershel Parker
Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie
The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
O Pioneers! By Willa Cather

You might also be interested in:

I'm Getting Out of Her by Leo Robson - https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n21/leo-robson/i-m-getting-out-of-here
TomorrowTalks with Percival Everett: The Trees - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irzJhamPVJw

Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.

Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.

Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail

Find us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/onebrightbook.bsky.social

Frances: https://bsky.app/profile/nonsuchbook.bsky.social

Dorian: https://bsky.app/profile/ds228.bsky.social

Rebecca: https://bsky.app/profile/ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social

Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/

Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/

Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Episode #33: We Do Not Part, by Han Kang Mar 07, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Frances, Dorian, and Rebecca as they discuss WE DO NOT PART by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris, and chat about their current reading.

For our next episode, we will discuss The Trees by Percival Everett. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in early April.

Books mentioned:

We Do Not Part by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris
The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith
Human Acts by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith
The White Book by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith
Greek Lessons by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith and e. yaewon
The Doctor's Wife by Brian Moore
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance by Rebecca Clarren
Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán, translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden
Like a Sky Inside by by Jakuta Alikavazovic, translated from the French by Daniel Levin Becker
Context Collapse: A Poem Containing a History of Poetry by Ryan Ruby
The Trees by Percival Everett
James by Percival Everett
Erasure by Percival Everett

You might also be interested in:

Han Kang: Nobel Lecture - https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2024/han/lecture/
The Republic of Consciousness Prize, United States and Canada - https://www.republicofconsciousnessprize-usa.com/
2024 NBCC Awards Longlists - https://www.bookcritics.org/2025/01/19/2024-nbcc-awards-longlists/
2024 NBCC Award Finalists - https://www.bookcritics.org/awards/

Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.

Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.

Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail

Find us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/onebrightbook.bsky.social

Frances: https://bsky.app/profile/nonsuchbook.bsky.social

Dorian: https://bsky.app/profile/ds228.bsky.social

Rebecca: https://bsky.app/profile/ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social

Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/

Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/

Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Episode #32: Mobility, by Lydia Kiesling Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Dorian, Frances, and Rebecca as they discuss MOBILITY by Lydia Kiesling, and chat about their current reading.

For our next episode, we will discuss WE DO NOT PART by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in late February.

Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books!

Books mentioned:

Mobility by Lydia Kiesling
The Octopus: A Story of California by Frank Norris
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, translated from the German by John E. Woods
Challenger by Adam Higginbotham
The Achilles Trap by Stephen Coll
When the Clock Broke by John Ganz
Animal Joy by Nuar Alsadir
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Family Romance: John Singer Sargent and the Wertheimers by Jean Strouse
Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Son at the Front by Edith Wharton
We Do Not Part by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris
The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith

Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.

Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.

Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail

Find us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/onebrightbook.bsky.social

Frances: https://bsky.app/profile/nonsuchbook.bsky.social

Dorian: https://bsky.app/profile/ds228.bsky.social

Rebecca: https://bsky.app/profile/ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social

Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/

Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/

Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Episode #31: In Conversation with Rohan Maitzen About Our Most Anticipated Books of 2025 Dec 24, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Rebecca, Frances, and Dorian as they discuss their most anticipated books of 2025 with Rohan Maitzen, English Professor at Dalhousie University, critic, and writer of the Novel Readings blog.

For our next episode, we will discuss Mobility by Lydia Keisling. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in late January.

Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books!

Books Mentioned:

Widening the Skirts of Light: Essays on George Eliot by Rohan Maitzen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Gliff by Ali Smith
The Stone Door by Leonora Carrington
Opus Siniestrus by Leonora Carrington
Lili Is Crying by Helene Bessette
Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay
Radio Treason The Trials of Lord Haw-Haw, the British Voice of Nazi Germany by Rebecca West
The Deserters by Mathias Énard, translated from the French by Charlotte Mandell
Zone by Mathias Énard, translated from the French by Charlotte Mandell
The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild by Mathias Énard, translated from the French by Frank Wynne
Exophony: Voyages Outside the Moher Tongue by Yoko Tawada, translated from the Japanese by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda
Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada, translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani
Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel by Yoko Tawada, translated from the Japanese by Susan Bernofsky
Makeshift by Sarah Campion
The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, translated from the German by Philip Boehm
The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk, translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
Bibliophobia by Sarah Chihaya
Wildcat Dome by Yuko Tsushima, translated from the Japanese by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda
Love in Exile by Shon Faye
The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer
So We Died: A Memoir of Life and Death in the Ghetto of Šiauliai, Lithuania by Levi Shalit, translated by Veronica Belling, Ellen Cassedy and Andrew Cassel
The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
Sun City by Tove Jansson, translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal
Melville Biography: An Inside Narrative by Hershel Parker
Herman Melville: A Biography (Volume 1, 1819-1851) by Hershel Parker
Herman Melville: A Biography (Volume 2, 1851-1891) by Hershel Parker
Melvill by Rodrigo Fresan, translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Mobility by Lydia Keisling

Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.

Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.

Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail

Find us on Twitter at @pod_bright

Frances: @nonsuchbook

Dorian: @ds228

Rebecca: @ofbooksandbikes

Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/

Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/

Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Episode #30: Overstaying, by Ariane Koch Dec 02, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Rebecca, Dorian, and Frances as they discuss OVERSTAYING by Ariane Koch, translated from the German by Damion Searls, and chat about their current reading.

For our next episode, we will welcome Rohan Maitzen to the podcast to join us in discussion about the books we are most looking forward to in the new year. We would love to have you join us for our conversation coming to you in late December.

Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books!

Books Mentioned: